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{{ otheruses1|Opera, the art form}}
[[Image:Milano-scalanotte.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Teatro alla Scala]] in [[Milan]], [[Italy]]. Founded in 1778, La Scala is one of the world's most famous [[opera house]]s.]]
{{Portal}}
'''Opera''' is an [[Performing arts|art form]] in which [[singers]] and [[musicians]] perform a [[drama]]tic work (called an opera) which combines a text (called a [[libretto]]) and a [[musical score]].<ref>Some definitions of opera: ''dramatic performance or composition of which music is an essential part, branch of art concerned with this'' (Concise Oxford English Dictionary); ''any dramatic work that can be sung (or at times declaimed or spoken) in a place for performance, set to original music for singers (usually in costume) and instrumentalists'' (Amanda Holden, ''Viking Opera Guide''); ''musical work for the stage with singing characters, originated in early years of 17th century'' (''Pears Cyclopaedia'', 1983 ed.).</ref> Opera is part of the Western [[classical music]] tradition.<ref>Comparable art forms from various other parts of the world, many of them ancient in origin, are also sometimes called "opera" by analogy, usually prefaced with an adjective indicating the region (for example, [[Chinese opera]]). These independent traditions are not derivative of Western opera, but are rather distinct forms of [[musical theatre]]. Opera is also not the only type of Western musical theatre: in the ancient world, [[Greek drama]] featured singing and instrumental accompaniment; and in modern times, other forms such as the [[musical theatre|musical]] have appeared.</ref> Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken [[theatre]], such as [[acting]], [[scenery]] and [[costume]]s and sometimes includes [[dance]]. The performance is typically given in an [[opera house]], accompanied by an [[orchestra]] or smaller [[musical ensemble]].

Opera started in Italy at the end of the 16th century ([[Jacopo Peri]]'s lost ''[[Dafne]]'', produced in [[Florence]] about 1597) and soon spread through the rest of Europe: [[Heinrich Schütz|Schütz]] in Germany, [[Jean-Baptiste Lully|Lully]] in France, and [[Henry Purcell|Purcell]] in England all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century. However, in the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe, except France, attracting foreign composers such as [[Handel]]. [[Opera seria]] was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until [[Gluck]] reacted against its artificiality with his "reform" operas in the 1760s. Today the most renowned figure of late 18th century opera is [[Mozart]], who began with opera seria but is most famous for his Italian [[comic opera]]s, especially ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]], [[Don Giovanni]]'', and ''[[Così fan tutte]]'', as well as ''[[The Magic Flute]]'', a landmark in the German tradition.

The first third of the 19th century saw the highpoint of the [[bel canto]] style, with [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini]], [[Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]] and [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]] all creating works that are still performed today. It also saw the advent of [[Grand Opera]] typified by the works of [[Meyerbeer]]. The mid to late 19th century is considered by some a golden age of opera, led by [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] in Germany and [[Verdi]] in Italy. This 'golden age' developed through the [[verismo]] era in Italy and contemporary [[French opera]] through to [[Puccini]] and [[Richard Strauss|Strauss]] in the early 20th century. During the 19th century, parallel operatic traditions emerged in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in [[Russian opera|Russia]] and [[Bohemia]]. The 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as [[atonality]] and [[serialism]] ([[Arnold Schoenberg|Schoenberg]] and [[Gunnar Berg|Berg]]), [[Neo-Classicism]] ([[Stravinsky]]), and [[Minimalism]] ([[Philip Glass]] and [[John Coolidge Adams|John Adams]]). With the rise of recording technology, singers such as [[Enrico Caruso]] became known to audiences beyond the circle of opera fans. Operas were also performed on, (and written for) [[radio]] and [[television]].

==History==
===Origins===
{{main|Origins of Opera}}
[[Image:Claudio_Monteverdi_5.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Claudio Monteverdi]]

The word ''opera'' means "work" in [[Italian language|Italian]] (from [[Latin]] ''opus'' meaning "work" or "labour") suggesting that it combines the arts of solo and choral singing, declamation, acting and dancing in a staged spectacle. ''[[Dafne]]'' by [[Jacopo Peri]] was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. It was written around 1597, largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of literate [[Florence|Florentine]] [[Humanism|humanist]]s who gathered as the "[[Florentine Camerata de' Bardi|Camerata de' Bardi]]". Significantly, ''Dafne'' was an attempt to revive the classical [[Greek tragedy|Greek drama]], part of the wider revival of antiquity characteristic of the [[Renaissance]]. The members of the Camerata considered that the "chorus" parts of Greek dramas were originally sung, and possibly even the entire text of all roles; opera was thus conceived as a way of "restoring" this situation. ''Dafne'' is unfortunately lost. A later work by Peri, ''[[Euridice (opera)|Euridice]]'', dating from 1600, is the first opera score to have survived to the present day. The honour of being the first opera still to be regularly performed, however, goes to [[Claudio Monteverdi|Claudio Monteverdi's]] ''[[L'Orfeo]]'', composed for the court of [[Mantua]] in 1607.<ref>''Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', Chapter 1; articles on Peri and Monteverdi in ''The Viking Opera Guide''.</ref>

===Italian opera===
{{main|Italian Opera}}
====The Baroque era====
Opera did not remain confined to court audiences for long; in 1637 the idea of a "season" ([[Carnival]]) of publicly-attended operas supported by ticket sales emerged in Venice. Monteverdi had moved to the city from Mantua and composed his last operas, ''[[Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria]]'' and ''[[L'incoronazione di Poppea]]'', for the Venetian theatre in the 1640s. His most important follower [[Francesco Cavalli]] helped spread opera throughout Italy. In these early Baroque operas, broad comedy was blended with tragic elements in a mix that jarred some educated sensibilities, sparking the first of opera's many reform movements, sponsored by Venice's Arcadian Academy which came to be associated with the poet [[Metastasio]], whose libretti helped crystallize the genre of [[opera seria]], which became the leading form of Italian opera until the end of the 18th century. Once the Metastasian ideal had been firmly established, comedy in Baroque-era opera was reserved for what came to be called [[opera buffa]].

[[Image:Haendel.jpg|thumb|left|George Frideric Handel, 1733]]
Before such elements were forced out of opera seria, many libretti had featured a separately unfolding comic plot as sort of an "opera-within-an-opera." One reason for this was an attempt to attract members of the growing merchant class, newly wealthy, but still less cultured than the nobility, to the public [[opera house]]s. These separate plots were almost immediately resurrected in a separately developing tradition that partly derived from the commedia dell'arte, (as indeed, such plots had always been) a long-flourishing improvisitory stage tradition of Italy. Just as intermedi had once been performed in-between the acts of stage plays, operas in the new comic genre of "intermezzi", which developed largely in Naples in the 1710s and '20s, were initially staged during the intermissions of opera seria. They became so popular, however, that they were soon being offered as separate productions.

''Opera seria'' was elevated in tone and highly stylised in form, usually consisting of ''secco'' recitative interspersed with long ''da capo'' arias. These afforded great opportunity for virtuosic singing and during the golden age of ''opera seria'' the singer really became the star. The role of the hero was usually written for the [[castrato]] voice; castrati such as [[Farinelli]] and [[Senesino]], as well as female [[soprano]]s such as [[Faustina Bordoni]], became in great demand throughout Europe as ''opera seria'' ruled the stage in every country except France. Indeed, Farinelli was the most famous singer of the 18th century. Italian opera set the Baroque standard. Italian [[libretti]] were the norm, even when a German composer like [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] found himself writing for London audiences. Italian libretti remained dominant in the [[Classical music era|classical]] period as well, for example in the operas of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], who wrote in Vienna near the century's close. Leading Italian-born composers of [[opera seria]] include [[Alessandro Scarlatti]], [[Vivaldi]] and [[Porpora]].<ref>''Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', Chapters 1-3.</ref>

====Reform: Gluck, the attack on the Metastasian ideal, and Mozart====
[[Image:Orfeo ed Euridice.jpg|right|thumb|Illustration for title page of the 1774 Paris edition of the score]]
[[Opera seria]] had its weaknesses and critics, and the taste for embellishment on behalf of the superbly trained singers, and the use of spectacle as a replacement for dramatic purity and unity drew attacks. [[Francesco Algarotti]]'s ''Essay on the Opera'' (1755) proved to be an inspiration for [[Christoph Willibald Gluck]]'s reforms. He advocated that ''opera seria'' had to return to basics and that all the various elements -- music (both instrumental and vocal), ballet, and staging -- must be subservient to the overriding drama. Several composers of the period, including [[Niccolò Jommelli]] and [[Tommaso Traetta]], attempted to put these ideals into practice. The first to really succeed and to leave a permanent imprint upon the history of opera, however, was Gluck. Gluck tried to achieve a "beautiful simplicity". This is illustrated in the first of his "reform" operas, ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice]]'', where vocal lines lacking in the virtuosity of (say) Handel's works are supported by simple harmonies and a notably richer-than-usual orchestral presence throughout.

Gluck's reforms have had resonance throughout operatic history. Weber, Mozart and Wagner, in particular, were influenced by his ideals. Mozart, in many ways Gluck's successor, combined a superb sense of drama, harmony, melody, and counterpoint to write a series of comedies, notably ''[[Così fan tutte]]'', ''[[The Marriage of Figaro|Le Nozze di Figaro]]'', and ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' (in collaboration with [[Lorenzo Da Ponte]]) which remain among the most-loved, popular and well-known operas today. But Mozart's contribution to ''opera seria'' was more mixed; by his time it was dying away, and in spite of such fine works as ''[[Idomeneo]]'' and ''[[La Clemenza di Tito]]'', he would not succeed in bringing the art form back to life again.<ref>''Man and Music: the Classical Era'', ed. [[Neal Zaslaw]] (Macmillan, 1989); entries on Gluck and Mozart in ''The Viking Opera Guide''.</ref>
{{multi-listen start}}
{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Don Giovanni - Overtüre.ogg|title=K527|description=Overture from [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]'s [[Don Giovanni]]|format=[[Ogg]]}}{{multi-listen item|filename=Der Hoelle Rache.ogg|title=Der Hölle Rache|description=From [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]'s [[Die Zauberflöte|The Magic Flute]]|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{multi-listen end}}

====Bel canto, Verdi and verismo====
[[Image:Verdi.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|Giuseppe Verdi, by [[Giovanni Boldini]], 1886 (National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome)]]
The [[bel canto]] opera movement flourished in the early 19th century and is exemplified by the operas of [[Gioacchino Rossini|Rossini]], [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]], [[Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]], [[Giovanni Pacini|Pacini]], [[Saverio Mercadante|Mercadante]] and many others. Literally "beautiful singing", ''bel canto'' opera derives from the Italian stylistic singing school of the same name. Bel canto lines are typically florid and intricate, requiring supreme agility and pitch control.

Following the bel canto era, a more direct, forceful style was rapidly popularized by [[Giuseppe Verdi]], beginning with his biblical opera ''[[Nabucco]]''. Verdi's operas resonated with the growing spirit of Italian nationalism in the post-[[Napoleon]]ic era, and he quickly became an icon of the patriotic movement (although his own politics were perhaps not quite so radical). In the early 1850s, Verdi produced his three most popular operas: ''[[Rigoletto]]'', ''[[Il trovatore]]'' and ''[[La traviata]]''. But he continued to develop his style, composing perhaps the greatest French [[Grand opera]], ''[[Don Carlos]]'', and ending his career with two [[Shakespeare|Shakespeare-inspired]] works, ''[[Otello]]'' and ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'', which reveal how far Italian opera had grown in sophistication since the early 19th century.

After Verdi, the sentimental "realistic" melodrama of [[verismo opera|verismo]] appeared in Italy. This was a style introduced by [[Pietro Mascagni]]'s ''[[Cavalleria Rusticana]]'' and [[Ruggiero Leoncavallo]]'s ''[[Pagliacci]]'' that came virtually to dominate the world's opera stages with such popular works as [[Giacomo Puccini|Giacomo Puccini's]] ''[[La Boheme]]'', ''[[Tosca]]'', and ''[[Madama Butterfly]]''. Later Italian composers, such as [[Luciano Berio|Berio]] and [[Luigi Nono|Nono]], have experimented with [[modernism]].<ref>''Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', Chapters 5, 8 and 9. ''Viking Opera Guide'' entry on Verdi.</ref>

{{multi-listen start}}
{{multi-listen item|filename=La_Donna_E_Mobile_Rigoletto.ogg|title=La donna è mobile|description=[[Enrico Caruso]] sings [[La donna è mobile]], from [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s [[Rigoletto]] (1908)|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{multi-listen item|filename=No Pagliaccio non son.ogg|title=No Pagliaccio non son|description=From [[Ruggiero Leoncavallo]]'s [[Pagliacci]]. Performed by Enrico Caruso|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{multi-listen end}}

===German-language opera===
{{main|German opera}}

The first German opera was ''Dafne'', composed by [[Heinrich Schütz]] in 1627 (the music has not survived). Italian opera held a great sway over German-speaking countries until the late 18th century. Nevertheless, native forms developed too. In 1644 [[Sigmund Theophil Staden|Sigmund Staden]] produced the first ''[[Singspiel]]'', a popular form of German-language opera in which singing alternates with spoken dialogue. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Theater am Gänsemarkt in [[Hamburg]] presented German operas by [[Reinhard Keiser|Keiser]], [[Telemann]] and [[Handel]]. Yet many of the major German composers of the time, including Handel himself, as well as [[Carl Heinrich Graun|Graun]], [[Johann Adolph Hasse|Hasse]] and later [[Gluck]], chose to write most of their operas in foreign languages, especially Italian.

[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''Singspiele'', ''[[Die Entführung aus dem Serail]]'' (1782) and ''[[Die Zauberflöte]]'' (1791) were an important breakthrough in achieving international recognition for German opera. The tradition was developed in the 19th century by [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] with his ''[[Fidelio]]'', inspired by the climate of the [[French Revolution]]. [[Carl Maria von Weber]] established [[German Romanticism|German Romantic]] opera in opposition to the dominance of Italian [[bel canto]]. His ''[[Der Freischütz]]'' (1821) shows his genius for creating a supernatural atmosphere. Other opera composers of the time include [[Marschner]], [[Schubert]], [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]] and [[Lortzing]], but the most significant figure was undoubtedly [[Richard Wagner]].

[[Image:Rheingold.gif|thumb|right|200px|Illustration inspired by Wagner's music drama ''Das Rheingold'' ]]
Wagner was one of the most revolutionary and controversial composers in musical history. Starting under the influence of [[Carl Maria von Weber|Weber]] and [[Meyerbeer]], he gradually evolved a new concept of opera as a ''Gesamtkunstwerk'' (a "complete work of art"), a fusion of music, poetry and painting. In his mature music dramas, ''[[Tristan und Isolde]], [[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]], [[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' and ''[[Parsifal]]'', he abolished the distinction between aria and recitative in favour of a seamless flow of "endless melody". He greatly increased the role and power of the orchestra, creating scores with a complex web of [[leitmotiv]]s, recurring themes often associated with the characters and concepts of the drama; and he was prepared to violate accepted musical conventions, such as [[tonality]], in his quest for greater expressivity. Wagner also brought a new philosophical dimension to opera in his works, which were usually based on stories from [[Germanic paganism|Germanic]] or [[Arthurian]] legend. Finally, Wagner built his own opera house at [[Bayreuth]], exclusively dedicated to performing his own works in the style he wanted.

Opera would never be the same after Wagner and for many composers his legacy proved a heavy burden. On the other hand, [[Richard Strauss]] accepted Wagnerian ideas but took them in wholly new directions. He first won fame with the scandalous ''[[Salome (opera)|Salome]]'' and the dark tragedy ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'', in which tonality was pushed to the limits. Then Strauss changed tack in his greatest success, ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'', where [[Mozart]] and [[Vienna|Viennese]] [[waltzes]] became as important an influence as Wagner. Strauss continued to produce a highly varied body of operatic works, often with libretti by the poet [[Hugo von Hofmannsthal]], right up until ''[[Capriccio (opera)|Capriccio]]'' in 1942. Other composers who made individual contributions to German opera in the early 20th century include [[Zemlinsky]], [[Hindemith]], [[Kurt Weill]] and the Italian-born [[Ferruccio Busoni]]. The operatic innovations of [[Arnold Schoenberg]] and his successors are discussed in the section on modernism.<ref>General outline for this section from the ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', Chapters 1-3, 6, 8 and 9, and ''The Oxford Companion to Music''; more specific references from the individual composer entries in ''The Viking Opera Guide''.</ref> {{listen|filename=Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde - Vorspiel.ogg|title=Tristan und Isolde: Prelude|description=|format=[[Ogg]]}}

===French opera===
{{main|French Opera}}
[[Image:1875 Carmen poster.jpg|thumb|left|200px|1875 poster for Bizet's ''Carmen'']]

In rivalry with imported Italian opera productions, a separate French tradition was founded by the Italian [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]] at the court of [[King Louis XIV]]. Despite his foreign origin, Lully established an [[Académie Royale de Musique|Academy of Music]] and monopolised French opera from 1672. Starting with ''[[Cadmus et Hermione]]'', Lully and his librettist [[Philippe Quinault|Quinault]] created ''[[tragédie en musique]]'',a form in which dance music and choral writing were particularly prominent. Lully's operas also show a concern for expressive [[recitative]] which matched the contours of the French language. In the 18th century, Lully's most important successor was [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]], who composed five ''[[tragédie en musique|tragédies en musique]]'' as well as numerous works in other genres such as [[opera-ballet]], all notable for their rich orchestration and harmonic daring. After Rameau's death, the German [[Gluck]] was persuaded to produce six operas for the [[Paris|Parisian stage]] in the 1770s. They show the influence of Rameau, but simplified and with greater focus on the drama. At the same time, by the middle of the 18th century another genre was gaining popularity in France: ''[[opéra comique]]''. This was the equivalent of the German [[singspiel]], where arias alternated with spoken dialogue. Notable examples in this style were produced by [[Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny|Monsigny]], [[Philidor]] and, above all, [[Grétry]]. During the [[French Revolution|Revolutionary]] period, composers such as [[Méhul]] and [[Cherubini]], who were followers of Gluck, brought a new seriousness to the genre, which had never been wholly "comic" in any case.

By the 1820s, Gluckian influence in France had given way to a taste for Italian [[bel canto]], especially after the arrival of [[Rossini]] in Paris. Rossini's ''[[Guillaume Tell]]'' helped found the new genre of [[Grand opera]], a form whose most famous exponent was another foreigner, [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]]. Meyerbeer's works, such as ''[[Les Huguenots]]'' emphasised virtuoso singing and extraordinary stage effects. Lighter ''opéra comique'' also enjoyed tremendous success in the hands of [[Boïeldieu]], [[Daniel Auber|Auber]], [[Ferdinand Hérold|Hérold]] and [[Adolphe Adam]]. In this climate, the operas of the French-born composer [[Hector Berlioz]] struggled to gain a hearing. Berlioz's epic masterpiece ''[[Les Troyens]]'', the culmination of the Gluckian tradition, was not given a full performance for almost a hundred years.

In the second half of the 19th century, Jacques Offenbach created [[operetta]] with witty and cynical works such as ''[[Orphée aux enfers]]''; [[Charles Gounod]] scored a massive success with ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]''; and [[Bizet]] composed ''[[Carmen (opera)|Carmen]]'', which, once audiences learned to accept its blend of [[Romanticism]] and realism, became the most popular of all opéra comiques. [[Massenet]], [[Camille Saint-Saëns|Saint-Saëns]] and [[Delibes]] all composed works which are still part of the standard repertory. At the same time, the influence of [[Richard Wagner]] was felt as a challenge to the French tradition. Many French critics angrily rejected Wagner's music dramas while many French composers closely imitated them with variable success. Perhaps the most interesting response came from [[Claude Debussy]]. As in Wagner's works, the orchestra plays a leading role in Debussy's unique opera ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' (1902) and there are no real arias, only recitative. But the drama is understated, enigmatic and completely unWagnerian.

Other notable 20th century names include [[Ravel]], [[Dukas]], [[Roussel]] and [[Darius Milhaud|Milhaud]]. [[Francis Poulenc]] is one of the very few post-war composers of any nationality whose operas (which include ''[[Dialogues of the Carmelites|Dialogues des carmélites]]'') have gained a foothold in the international repertory. [[Olivier Messiaen|Olivier Messiaen's]] lengthy sacred drama ''[[Saint François d'Assise]]'' (1983) has also attracted widespread attention.<ref>General outline for this section from the ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', Chapters 1-4, 8 and 9; and ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' (10th ed., 1968); more specific references from the individual composer entries in ''The Viking Opera Guide''.</ref>{{Listen|filename=Toreador song.ogg|title=Prelude|description=From [[Georges Bizet]]'s [[Carmen]]. Performed by the Damrosch Orchestra (1903)}}

===English-language opera===
In England, opera's antecedent was the 17th century ''jig''. This was an afterpiece which came at the end of a play. It was frequently [[libel]]lous and scandalous and consisted in the main of dialogue set to music arranged from popular tunes. In this respect, jigs anticipate the ballad operas of the 18th century. At the same time, the French [[masque]] was gaining a firm hold at the English Court, with even more lavish splendour and highly realistic scenery than had been seen before. [[Inigo Jones]] became the quintessential designer of these productions, and this style was to dominate the English stage for three centuries. These masques contained songs and dances. In [[Ben Jonson]]'s ''Lovers Made Men'' (1617), "the whole masque was sung after the Italian manner, stilo recitativo".<ref name=IvanhoeSite>[http://www.webrarian.co.uk/ivanhoe/ivan01.html From Webrarian.com's] ''[[Ivanhoe (opera)|Ivanhoe]]'' site.</ref>

[[image:Henry Purcell.jpg|thumb|right|[[Henry Purcell]]]]The approach of the [[English Commonwealth]] closed theatres and halted any developments that may have led to the establishment of English opera. However, in 1656, the [[dramatist]] Sir [[William Davenant]] produced ''The Siege of Rhodes''. Since his theatre was not licensed to produce drama, he asked several of the leading composers (Lawes, Cooke, Locke, Coleman and Hudson) to set sections of it to music. This success was followed by ''The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru'' (1658) and ''The History of Sir Francis Drake'' (1659). These pieces were encouraged by [[Oliver Cromwell]] because they were critical of Spain. With the [[English Restoration]], foreign (especially French) musicians were welcomed back. In 1673, [[Thomas Shadwell]]'s ''Psyche'', patterned on the 1671 'comédie-ballet' of the same name produced by [[Molière]] and [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]]. [[William Davenant]] produced ''The Tempest'' in the same year, which was the first musical adaption of a [[Shakespeare]] play (composed by Locke and Johnson).<ref name=IvanhoeSite/> About 1683, [[John Blow]] composed ''[[Venus and Adonis (opera)|Venus and Adonis]]'', often thought of as the first true English-language opera.

Blow's immediate successor was the better known [[Henry Purcell]]. Despite the success of his masterwork ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]'' (1689), in which the action is furthered by the use of Italian-style recitative, much of Purcell's best work was not involved in the composing of typical opera, but instead he usually worked within the constraints of the [[semi-opera]] format, where isolated scenes and masques are contained within the structure of a spoken play, such as [[Shakespeare]] in Purcell's ''[[The Fairy-Queen]]'' (1692) and Beaumont and Fletcher in ''The Prophetess'' (1690) and ''Bonduca'' (1696). The main characters of the play tend not to be involved in the musical scenes, which means that Purcell was rarely able to develop his characters through song. Despite these hindrances, his aim (and that of his collaborator [[John Dryden]]) was to establish serious opera in England, but these hopes ended with Purcell's early death at the age of 36. {{Listen|filename=Stay, Prince and hear.ogg|title=Stay, Prince and hear|description=A scene from Purcell's operatic masterpiece, ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]''. The witches' messenger, in the form of Mercury himself, attempts to convince Aeneas to leave Carthage. Note the use of Italian-style recitative, a rarity in English opera at that time.|format=[[Ogg]]}}

[[Image:The_Mikado_Three_Little_Maids.jpg|thumb|left|Lithograph - ''[[The Mikado]]'']]Following Purcell, for many years Great Britain was essentially an outpost of Italianate opera. [[Handel]]'s ''opera serias'' dominated the London operatic stages for decades, and even home-grown composers such as [[Thomas Arne]] and [[John Frederick Lampe]] wrote using Italian models. This situation continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, including in the work of [[Michael Balfe]], and the operas of the great Italian composers, as well as those of Mozart, Beethoven and Meyerbeer, continued to dominate the musical stage in England. The only exceptions were [[ballad opera]]s, such as [[John Gay]]'s ''[[The Beggar's Opera]]'' (1728), musical [[burlesque (genre)|burlesque]]s, European [[operetta]]s, and late [[Victorian era]] [[light opera]]s, notably the [[Savoy Operas]] of [[W. S. Gilbert]] and [[Arthur Sullivan]], all of which types of musical entertainments frequently spoofed operatic conventions. Sullivan wrote only one grand opera, ''[[Ivanhoe (opera)|Ivanhoe]]'' (following the efforts of a number of young English composers beginning about 1876),<ref name=IvanhoeSite/> but he claimed that even his light operas constituted part of a school of "English" opera, intended to supplant the French operettas (usually performed in bad translations) that had dominated the London stage throughout the 19th century into the 1870s. London's ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' agreed, describing ''[[The Yeomen of the Guard]]'' as "...a genuine English opera, forerunner of many others, let us hope, and possibly significant of an advance towards a national lyric stage."''<ref>the Daily Telegraph's review of ''Yeomen'' stated, "''The accompaniments... are delightful to hear, and especially does the treatment of the woodwind compel admiring attention. Schubert himself could hardly have handled those instruments more deftly. ...we have a genuine English opera, forerunner of many others, let us hope, and possibly significant of an advance towards a national lyric stage.'' (quoted at p. 312 in Allen, Reginald (1975). ''The First Night Gilbert and Sullivan''. London: Chappell & Co. Ltd.). Sullivan produced a few light operas in the 1890s that were of a more serious nature than those in the G&S series, including ''[[Haddon Hall (opera)|Haddon Hall]]'' and ''[[The Beauty Stone]]'', but ''[[Ivanhoe (opera)|Ivanhoe]]'' (which ran for 155 consecutive performances, using alternating casts – a record until Broadway's ''[[La Boheme]]'') survives as his only [[grand opera]].</ref>

In the 20th century, English opera began to assert more independence, with works of [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] and in particular [[Benjamin Britten]], who in a series of fine works that remain in standard repertory today, revealed an excellent flair for the dramatic and superb musicality. Today composers such as [[Thomas Adès]] continue to export English opera abroad.<ref>''Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', Chapters 1, 3 and 9. ''The Viking Opera Guide'' articles on Blow, Purcell and Britten.</ref> More recently [[Harrison Birtwistle|Sir Harrison Birtwistle]] has emerged as one of Britain's most significant contemporary composers from his first opera [[Punch and Judy (opera)|Punch and Judy]] to his most recent critical success in [[The Minotaur (opera)|The Minotaur]].

Also in the 20th century, American composers like [[Leonard Bernstein]], [[Gershwin]], [[Gian Carlo Menotti]], and [[Carlisle Floyd]] began to contribute English-language operas infused with touches of popular musical styles. They were followed by modernists like [[Philip Glass]], [[Mark Adamo]], [[John Coolidge Adams]], and [[Jake Heggie]].

===Russian opera===
{{main|Russian Opera}}
[[Image:Feodor Chaliapin as Ivan Susanin.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Feodor Chaliapin]] as [[Ivan Susanin]] in [[Glinka]]'s ''[[A Life for the Tsar]]'']]
Opera was brought to [[Russia]] in the 1730s by the [[Italian opera]]tic [[troupe]]s and soon it became an important part of entertainment for the Russian Imperial Court and [[aristocracy]]. Many foreign composers such as [[Baldassare Galuppi]], [[Giovanni Paisiello]], [[Giuseppe Sarti]], and [[Domenico Cimarosa]] (as well as various others) were invited to Russia to compose new operas, mostly in the [[Italian language]]. Simultaneously some domestic musicians like [[Maksym Berezovsky]] and [[Dmytro Bortniansky]] were sent abroad to learn to write operas. The first opera written in [[Russian language|Russian]] was ''[[Tsefal i Prokris]]'' by the Italian composer [[Francesco Araja]] (1755). The development of Russian-language opera was supported by the Russian composers [[Vasily Pashkevich]], [[Yevstigney Fomin]] and [[Alexey Verstovsky]].

However, the real birth of [[Russian opera]] came with [[Mikhail Glinka]] and his two great operas ''[[A Life for the Tsar]]'', (1836) and ''[[Ruslan and Lyudmila]]'' (1842). After him in the 19th century in Russia there were written such operatic masterpieces as ''[[Rusalka (Dargomyzhsky)|Rusalka]]'' and ''[[The Stone Guest]]'' by [[Alexander Dargomyzhsky]], ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'' and ''[[Khovanshchina]]'' by [[Modest Mussorgsky]], ''[[Prince Igor]]'' by [[Alexander Borodin]], ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]'' and ''[[The Queen of Spades]]'' by [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Pyotr Tchaikovsky]], and ''[[The Snow Maiden]]'' and ''[[Sadko]]'' by [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]]. These developments mirrored the growth of Russian [[nationalism]] across the artistic spectrum, as part of the more general [[Slavophilism]] movement.

In the 20th century the [[tradition]]s of Russian opera were developed by many composers including [[Sergei Rachmaninoff|Sergei Rachmaninov]] in his works ''[[The Miserly Knight]]'' and ''[[Francesca da Rimini (opera)|Franchesca da Rimini]]'', [[Igor Stravinsky]] in ''[[The Nightingale (opera)|Le Rossignol]]'', ''[[Mavra]]'', ''[[Oedipus rex (opera)|Oedipus rex]]'', and ''[[The Rake's Progress]]'', [[Sergei Prokofiev]] in ''[[The Gambler (Prokofiev)|The Gambler]]'', ''[[The Love for Three Oranges (Prokofiev)|The Love for Three Oranges]]'', ''[[The Fiery Angel (opera)|The Fiery Angel]]'', ''[[Betrothal in a Monastery (Prokofiev)|Betrothal in a Monastery]]'', and ''[[War and Peace (Prokofiev)|War and Peace]]''; as well as [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] in ''[[The Nose (opera)|The Nose]]'' and ''[[Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (opera)|Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District]]'', [[Edison Denisov]] in ''[[L'écume des jours (opera)|L'écume des jours]]'', and [[Alfred Schnittke]] in ''[[Life With an Idiot]]'', and ''[[Historia von D. Johann Fausten (opera)|Historia von D. Johann Fausten]]''.<ref>Taruskin, Richard: Russia in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992); ''Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', Chapters 7-9.</ref>

===Other national operas===
[[Spain]] also produced its own distinctive form of opera, known as [[zarzuela]], which had two separate flowerings: one in the 17th century, and another beginning in the mid-19th century. During the 18th century, Italian opera was immensely popular in Spain, supplanting the native form.

[[Image:Prodaná nevěsta.jpg|thumb|300px|''[[The Bartered Bride]]'' performed in [[Prague]]. On the right is [[Emmy Destinn]].]]
Czech composers also developed a thriving national opera movement of their own in the 19th century, starting with [[Bedřich Smetana]] who wrote eight operas including the internationally popular ''[[The Bartered Bride]]''. [[Antonín Dvořák]], most famous for ''[[Rusalka (opera)|Rusalka]]'', wrote 13 operas; and [[Leoš Janáček]] gained international recognition in the 20th century for his innovative works including ''[[Jenufa|Jenůfa]]'', ''[[The Cunning Little Vixen]]'', and ''[[Káťa Kabanová]]''.

The key figure of Hungarian national opera in the 19th century was [[Ferenc Erkel]], whose works mostly dealt with historical themes. Among his most often performed operas are ''Hunyadi László'' and ''Bánk bán''. The most famous modern Hungarian opera is [[Béla Bartók|Béla Bartók's]] ''[[Duke Bluebeard's Castle]]''.

The best-known composer of [[Polish opera|Polish national opera]] was [[Stanislaw Moniuszko]], most celebrated for the opera ''Straszny Dwór''.<ref>See the chapter on "Russian, Czech, Polish and Hungarian Opera to 1900" by John Tyrrell in ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'' (1994).</ref> In the 20th century, other operas created by Polish composers included ''[[King Roger]]'' by [[Karol Szymanowski]] and ''Ubu Rex'' by [[Krzysztof Penderecki]].

===Contemporary, recent, and Modernist trends===
====Modernism====
Perhaps the most obvious stylistic manifestation of modernism in opera is the development of [[atonality]]. The move away from traditional tonality in opera had begun with [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], and in particular the [[Tristan chord]]. Composers such as [[Richard Strauss]], [[Claude Debussy]], [[Giacomo Puccini]], [[Paul Hindemith]] and [[Hans Pfitzner]] pushed Wagnerian harmony further with a more extreme use of chromaticism and greater use of dissonance.

[[Image:Arnold Schoenberg la 1948.jpg|thumb|left|[[Arnold Schoenberg]], 1948]]
Operatic Modernism truly began in the operas of two Viennese composers, [[Arnold Schoenberg]] and his acolyte [[Alban Berg]], both composers and advocates of atonality and its later development (as worked out by Schoenberg), [[dodecaphony]]. Schoenberg's early musico-dramatic works, ''[[Erwartung]]'' (1909, premiered in 1924) and ''[[Die glückliche Hand]]'' display heavy use of chromatic harmony and dissonance in general. Schoenberg also occasionally used [[Sprechstimme]], which he described as: "The voice rising and falling relative to the indicated intervals, and everything being bound together with the time and rhythm of the music except where a pause is indicated".

The two operas of Schoenberg's pupil Alban Berg, ''[[Wozzeck]]'' and ''[[Lulu (opera)|Lulu]]'' (left incomplete at his death) share many of the same characteristics as described above, though Berg combined his highly personal interpretation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique with melodic passages of a more traditionally tonal nature (quite Mahlerian in character) which perhaps partially explains why his operas have remained in standard repertory, despite their controversial music and plots. Schoenberg's theories have influenced (either directly or indirectly) significant numbers of opera composers ever since, even if they themselves did not compose using his techniques. Composers thus influenced include the Englishman [[Benjamin Britten]], the German [[Hans Werner Henze]], and the Russian [[Dmitri Shostakovich]]. ([[Philip Glass]] also makes use of atonality, though his style is generally described as [[minimalism (music)|minimalist]], usually thought of as another 20th century development.)

However, operatic modernism's use of dodecaphony sparked a backlash among several leading composers. Prominent among the vanguard of these was the Russian [[Igor Stravinsky]]. After composing obviously Modernist music for the [[Diaghilev]]-produced ballets ''[[Petrushka]]'' and ''[[The Rite of Spring]]'', in the 1920s Stravinsky turned to [[Neoclassicism (music)|Neoclassicism]], culminating in his opera-oratorio ''[[Oedipus Rex]]''.<ref>Stravinsky had already turned away from the modernist trends of his early ballets to produce small-scale works that do not fully qualify as opera, yet certainly contain many operatic elements, including ''[[Renard (Stravinsky)|Renard]]'' (1916: "a burlesque in song and dance") and ''[[L'histoire du soldat|The Soldier's Tale]]'' (1918: "to be read, played, and danced"; in both cases the descriptions and instructions are those of the composer). In the latter, the actors declaim portions of speech to a specified rhythm over instrumental accompaniment, peculiarly similar to the older German genre of ''[[Melodrama]]''.</ref> When he did compose a full-length opera that was without doubt an opera (after his Rimsky-Korsakov-inspired works ''[[The Nightingale (opera)|The Nightingale]]'' (1914), and ''[[Mavra]]'' (1922)), in ''[[The Rake's Progress]]'' he continued to ignore serialist techniques and wrote an 18th century-style "number" opera, using diatonicism. His resistance to [[serialism]] (which ended at the death of Schoenberg) proved to be an inspiration for many other composers.<ref>''Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', Chapter 8; ''The Viking Opera Guide'' articles on Schoenberg, Berg and Stravinsky; Malcolm MacDonald ''Schoenberg'' (Dent,1976); Francis Routh, ''Stravinsky'' (Dent, 1975).</ref>

====Other trends====
A common trend throughout the 20th century, in both opera and general orchestral repertoire, is the downsizing of orchestral forces. As patronage of the arts decreases, new works are commissioned and performed with smaller budgets, very often resulting in chamber-sized works, and one act operas. Many of [[Benjamin Britten]]'s operas are scored for as few as 13 instrumentalists; [[Mark Adamo]]'s two-act realization of ''[[Little Women (opera)|Little Women]]'' is scored for 18 instrumentalists.

Another feature of 20th century opera is the emergence of contemporary historical operas. ''[[The Death of Klinghoffer]]'' and ''[[Nixon in China (opera)|Nixon in China]]'' by [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]], and ''[[Dead Man Walking (opera)|Dead Man Walking]]'' by [[Jake Heggie]] exemplify the dramatisation on stage of events in recent living memory, where characters portrayed in the opera were alive at the time of the premiere performance. Earlier models of opera generally stuck to more distant history, re-telling contemporary fictional stories (reworkings of popular plays), or mythical/legendary stories.<ref>However, something similar happened in French opera during the [[French Revolution|Revolutionary]] era. One example is [[François Joseph Gossec|Gossec's]] ''Le triomphe de la République'' (1793), depicting the French victory at [[Battle of Valmy|Valmy]] the previous year. Such works were obviously intended as propaganda.</ref>

The Metropolitan Opera reports that the average age of its patrons is now 60. Many opera companies have experienced a similar trend, and opera company websites are replete with attempts to attract a younger audience. This trend is part of the larger trend of greying audiences for [[classical music]] since the last decades of the 20th century.<ref>General reference for this section: ''Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', Chapter 9.</ref> In an effort to attract younger audiences, the Met offers a student discount on ticket purchases.<ref>[http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/about/education/student.aspx Information about Metropolitan Opera Company student discounts]</ref> Smaller companies like Opera Carolina offer discounts and happy hour events to the 21&ndash;40 year old demographic.<ref>[http://www.operayoungprofessionals.org/ Opera Carolina discount information]</ref> In addition to radio and television broadcasts of opera performances, which have had some success in gaining new audiences, broadcasts of live performances in HD to movie theatres have shown the potential to reach new audiences. Since 2006, the Met has broadcast live performances to several hundred movie screens all over the world.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events_alternates.aspx|title = On Air & On Line: 2007&ndash;08 HD Season|accessdate = 2008-04-10|year = 2007|publisher = The Metropolitan Opera}}</ref>

====From musicals back towards opera====
Also by the late 1930s, some [[musical theatre|musicals]] began to be written with a more operatic structure. These works include complex polyphonic ensembles and reflect musical developments of their times. ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'', influenced by jazz styles, and ''[[Candide (operetta)|Candide]]'', with its sweeping, lyrical passages and farcical parodies of opera, both opened on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] but became accepted as part of the opera repertory. ''[[Show Boat]]'', ''[[West Side Story]]'', ''[[Brigadoon]]'', ''[[Sweeney Todd (musical)|Sweeney Todd]]'', ''[[Evita (musical)|Evita]]'', ''[[The Light in the Piazza]]'' and others tell dramatic stories through complex music and are now sometimes seen in opera houses. Some musicals, beginning with ''[[Tommy (rock opera)|Tommy]]'' (1969) and ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]'' (1971) and continuing through ''[[Les Miserables (musical)]]'' (1980), ''[[Rent (musical)|Rent]]'' (1996) and ''[[Spring Awakening (musical)|Spring Awakening]]'' (2006), utilize various operatic conventions, such as [[through composition]], recitative instead of dialogue, leitmotifs, and dramatic stories told predominantly through rock or pop music.

===Acoustic enhancement with speakers===
A subtle type of sound reinforcement called [[acoustic enhancement]] is used in some concert halls where operas are performed. Acoustic enhancement systems help give a more even sound in the hall and prevent "dead spots" in the audience seating area by "...augment[ing] a hall's intrinsic acoustic characteristics." The systems use "...an array of microphones connected to a computer [which is] connected to an array of loudspeakers." However, as concertgoers have become aware of the use of these systems, debates have arisen, because "...purists maintain that the natural acoustic sound of [Classical] voices [or] instruments in a given hall should not be altered."<ref>[http://harada-sound.com/sound/handbook/intro2.html Sound Systems- Why?!<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Kai Harada's article ''Opera's Dirty Little Secret''<ref>Entertainment Design, Mar 1, 2001 http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?releaseid=5643&magazinearticleid=66853&siteid=15&magazineid=138</ref>
states that opera houses have begun using electronic acoustic enhancement systems "...to compensate for flaws in a venue's acoustical architecture." Despite the uproar that has arisen amongst operagoers, Harada points out that none of the opera houses using acoustic enhancement systems "...use traditional, Broadway-style sound reinforcement, in which most if not all singers are equipped with radio microphones mixed to a series of unsightly loudspeakers scattered throughout the theatre." Instead, most opera houses use the sound reinforcement system for acoustic enhancement, and for subtle boosting of offstage voices, onstage dialogue, and sound effects (e.g., church bells in [[Tosca]] or thunder in Wagnerian operas).

==Operatic voices==
===Vocal classifications===
Singers and the roles they play are classified by [[voice type]], based on the [[tessitura]], [[vocal weight|agility, power]] and [[timbre]] of their voices. Male singers can be loosely classified by [[vocal range]] as [[bass (vocal range)|bass]], [[bass-baritone]], [[baritone]], [[tenor]] and [[countertenor]], and female singers as [[contralto]], [[mezzo-soprano]] and [[soprano]]. (Men sometimes sing in the "female" vocal ranges, in which case they are termed [[sopranist]] or [[countertenor]]. Of these, only the [[countertenor]] is commonly encountered in opera, sometimes singing parts written for [[castrati]] -- men neutered at a young age specifically to give them a higher singing range.) Singers are then classified by [[voice type]] - for instance, a soprano can be described as a lyric soprano, [[coloratura]], [[soubrette]], [[spinto]], or dramatic soprano. These terms, although not fully describing a singing voice, associate the singer's voice with the roles most suitable to the singer's vocal characteristics. A particular singer's voice may change drastically over his or her lifetime, rarely reaching vocal maturity until the third decade, and sometimes not until middle age.

===Historical use of voice parts===
''The following is only intended as a brief overview. For the main articles, see [[soprano]], [[mezzo-soprano]], [[alto]], [[tenor]], [[baritone]], [[bass (vocal range)|bass]], [[countertenor]] and [[castrato]]''.

The soprano voice has typically been used throughout operatic history as the voice of choice for the female protagonist of the opera in question. The current emphasis on a wide vocal range was primarily an invention of the [[Classical period (music)|Classical period]]. Before that, the vocal virtuosity, not range, was the priority, with soprano parts rarely extending above a high A ([[Handel]], for example, only wrote one role extending to a high C), though the castrato [[Farinelli]] was alleged to possess a top D (his lower range was also extraordinary, extending to tenor C). The mezzo-soprano, a term of comparatively recent origin, also has a large repertoire, ranging from the female lead in Purcell's ''Dido and Aeneas'' to such heavyweight roles as Brangäne in Wagner's ''Tristan und Isolde'' (these are both roles sometimes sung by sopranos; there is quite a lot of "movement" between these two voice-types). For the true contralto, the range of parts is more limited, hence the saying that contraltos only sing "Witches, bitches, and [[pants role|britches]]". In recent years many of the trouser roles from the Baroque era, originally written for women, and those originally sung by castrati, have been assigned to countertenors.

The tenor voice, from the Classical era onwards, has traditionally been assigned the role of male protagonist. Many of the most challenging tenor roles in the repertory were written during the ''bel canto'' era, such as [[Donizetti]]'s sequence of 9 Cs above middle C during ''[[La fille du régiment]]''. With Wagner came an emphasis on vocal heft for his protagonist roles, with this vocal category described as ''Heldentenor''; this heroic voice had its more Italianate counterpart in such roles as Calaf in Puccini's ''Turandot''. Basses have a long history in opera, having been used in ''opera seria'' in supporting roles, and sometimes for comic relief (as well as providing a contrast to the preponderance of high voices in this genre). The bass repertoire is wide and varied, stretching from the comedy of Leporello in ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' to the nobility of Wotan in [[Wagner's Ring Cycle]]. In between the bass and the tenor is the baritone, which also varies in "weight" from say, Guglielmo in Mozart's ''Così fan tutte'' to Posa in Verdi's ''Don Carlos''; the actual designation "baritone" was not used until the mid-nineteenth century.

===Famous singers===
[[Image:Senesino_portrait_edited.jpg|thumb|The castrato [[Senesino]], c. 1720]]
Early performances of opera were too infrequent for singers to make a living exclusively from the style, but with the birth of commercial opera in the mid-17th century, professional performers began to emerge. The role of the male hero was usually entrusted to a [[castrato]], and by the 18th century, when Italian opera was performed throughout Europe, leading castrati who possessed extraordinary vocal virtuosity, such as [[Senesino]] and [[Farinelli]], became international stars. The career of the first major female star (or [[prima donna]]), [[Anna Renzi]], dates to the mid-1600s. In the 18th century, a number of Italian sopranos gained international renown and often engaged in fierce rivalry, as was the case with [[Faustina Bordoni]] and [[Francesca Cuzzoni]], who started a fist fight with one another during a performance of a Handel opera. The French disliked castrati, preferring their male heroes to be sung by a [[haute-contre]] (a high tenor), of which [[Joseph Legros]] was a leading example.<ref>''The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'' (ed. Parker, 1994), Chapter 11</ref>

Though opera patronage has decreased in the last century in favor of other arts and media, such as musicals, cinema, radio, television and recordings, mass media has also supported the popularity of famous singers such as [[Luciano Pavarotti]], [[Placido Domingo]], and [[Jose Carreras]] ("[[The Three Tenors]]"). Other famous 21st century performers include [[Renee Fleming]] and various other artists who have gained note as "crossover" performers by featuring in pop music and movie scores.

==See also==
=== Lists ===
: ''Main list: [[List of basic opera topics]]''

* [[Glossary of music terms]]
* [[List of important opera companies]]
* [[List of important operas]] - an annotated, chronological, selected list of operas which are included for their historical significance, widespread popularity, or both.
* [[List of major opera composers]] - an annotated compilation of the most frequently named composers on ten lists published by opera experts.
* [[List of operas by title]] - an alphabetical list by title of operas with Wikipedia articles.
* [[List of opera directors]]
* [[List of opera festivals]]
* [[List of opera houses]]
* List of [[Opera singers]] by ranges
* [[Voice type]], the classification of singers by the tessitura, weight, and timbre of their voices.
* [[The opera corpus]] - an extended list of more than 1400 works by more than 400 composers.

=== Related topics ===
* [[Ta'zieh|Persian opera]]
* [[Polish opera]]
* [[Russian opera]]
* [[French opera]]
* [[German opera]]
* [[Italian opera]]
* [[Comic opera]]
* [[Chinese opera]]
* [[Music]]
* [[Dance]]
* [[Orchestra]]

==Notes==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

==References==
*Silke Leopold, "The Idea of National Opera, c. 1800," ''United and Diversity in European Culture c. 1800'', ed. Tim Blanning and Hagen Schulze (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 19-34.

*The ''[[New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'', edited by Stanley Sadie (1992), 5,448 pages, is the best, and by far the largest, general reference in the English language. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 and ISBN 1-56159-228-5

*''The Viking Opera Guide'' (1994), 1,328 pages, ISBN 0-670-81292-7

*''The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'', ed. Roger Parker (1994)

*''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5

*''Opera, the Rough Guide'', by Matthew Boyden et al. (1997), 672 pages, ISBN 1-85828-138-5

*''Opera: A Concise History'', by Leslie Orrey and Rodney Milne, World of Art, Thames & Hudson

==Further reading==
*[[John Louis DiGaetani|DiGaetani]], John Louis: ''An Invitation to the Opera'' Anchor Books, 1986/91. ISBN 0-385-26339-2
*Simon, Henry W.: ''A Treasury of Grand Opera.'' Simon and Schuster, New York, 1946.

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|Opera}}
*[http://operamusique.googlepages.com/ vocabulaire de l'Opéra]
*[http://opera.stanford.edu/main.html OperaGlass, a resource at Stanford University]
*[http://www.historicopera.com HistoricOpera - historic operatic images]
*[http://www.american.com/archive/2007/july-august-magazine-contents/america2019s-opera-boom "America’s Opera Boom"] By Jonathan Leaf, [[The American (magazine)|The American]], July/August 2007 Issue
*[http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best-classic-opera.html 100 Greatest Operas]
*[http://www.musicianswebsites.co.uk/Heritage_Opera/index2.htm 100 Top Operas with plot summaries and recommended CDs/DVDs]

{{Opera genres}}

{{Opera terms}}

[[Category:Opera| ]]
[[Category:Musical forms]]
[[Category:Music genres]]

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opera was created by oprah whinfrey

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